Voila! (Midwest)

I had some time Friday to get on press and finalize a few letterpress cards. I'm pretty pleased with the results.

I created these cards with my "new" vintage wood type. I really enjoy printing with wood type. The impression is smooth, yet textured. And, setting the type in the chase is so satisfying. It's like doing a jigsaw puzzle. Well. Sort of.




I'm planning on offering this design as a personalized folding note set. I pre-printed the chocolate layer that says "a note from _______ (pencil icon)". I chose the chocolate because it's such a versatile coordinating color. I ran the sample in red ink. Laurie and I have been discovering that people like red. Now my task is to finalize a quantity to offer and find some packaging.

Here's the final result!

PMS (Midwest)

I'm checking in with nothing super new to report. I'm almost finished with one of my big freelance brochure projects, and the second one is well under way. I'm hoping to have printed pieces to show you soon.

Busy day today, my brother is in town from Cali with his group and my mom is around, too. Gotta run.

Oh. This photo is one of my new mugs from the Museum Shop at the Art Institute in Chicago. I wish I had bought a couple more colors, but they were very pricey.

An Efficient Weekend (West Coast)

Hot off the press this evening, I finished up printing the last of my new line of cards. I am pretty excited about the cards, and especially this one with very tight registration. I was a bit nervous about printing it, but with my new Kort Quads it worked out quite easily. I am happy I took the plunge and purchased my new guides. I had been using photo corners to hold my paper in place, but my new Kort Quads are much more efficient. The paper truly stays in place. : ) These will be up in my Etsy shop in the next day or two.

New Stuff (West Coast)

I have been busy printing on my new press, and this is one of the first of my new card designs to go up in the shop. I am very excited with the new look, and will be posting more this week as I finish them up. Hopefully I will have time to get on press this week!!!

More Corners (West Coast)

The search for a perfect solution to rounded corners has kept me up lately. I know it is sad, but my favorite pre-cut paper has been discontinued, and I have been at a loss to how I am going to cope without it. One of my best selling cards prints on this nice rounded corner stock, that I have been buying pre-cut. Both Amy and I have been looking at corner rounders, and the result has been OK, but I really like the angle of the original diecut card.

I found the perfect solution, and it even cuts multiple cards at once! I purchased this Lassco corner rounder, with the 1/2" die. It is a perfect match! Today, everything on my desk has rounded corners, including my test stack of cards! The ivory stock is the diecut card, and the white stock is the Lassco cut card. Pretty cool! It even catches the corners in a handy little trash area.

TGIF (Midwest)

This was a long week. We had lots of rain and Sam was off school for 4 days for parent teacher conferences. Sophie was home for a day sick and now Joey is complaining of a sore throat. I'm trying not to panic and run through the streets screaming "Run for your lives. The swine flu is here!" Instead, I'm going into preparedness mode. I have spray hand sanitizers in all the kids backpacks and we are washing hands again and again and again...

Now, I need to simmer down and focus on my design work. I am behind on invoicing and if I could finalize my projects that will allow me to clean my plate a bit and maybe even earn me some time on press.

Also! I feel cheerful because May is here. May is my birthday month and for as long as I can remember the arrival of may was always bright and colorful to me. It meant flowers and leaves on trees. Sunshine, cake and presents. Then, summer and swimming pools.

Welcome May!!!

Rounding a Corner (Midwest)

A couple weeks back Laurie and I had this long phone conversation about the disappointing news that our paper vendor was no longer offering rounded corner, flat notes in A2 size. I know. It's really a tragedy. I think we went through all the stages of grief during that phone call. Denial. Anger. Bargaining. Depression. Acceptance...

I decided that in order empower myself and move on I needed to locate the perfect corner rounder. I ended up deciding that a hand punch (think scrapbooking tool) would be doable. I could punch corners while watching tv (think Desperate Housewives of Orange County) and make my own rounded corner flats. Heck, I probably have other printed things that would be cool with rounded corners (think grocery lists).

So, after a week or two traveling to various craft stores, buying what looked like workable and sturdy corner rounders I found one I liked. And, three that I didn't which were returned. Presenting the Fiskars hand-squeezy-view your paper-round your corner-and watch a paper piece flip up into the air model. I like it because it cuts easily and consistently. The blue stock below is a duplex card stock, at least 110 lb. You can see the corner is pretty clean and has about the same corner radius as the precut flat beneath it.




Who knew a craft punch would be so exciting that someone would photograph and write an entire blog post about it? Not me.

Goodbye Old Friend (West Coast)

I sold my old Kelsey this past weekend. I placed an ad on Briar Press and Craigslist. I also looked up some wanted ads on Briar, and emailed a few people. I remember when I was looking desperately for a press how hard it was to find one without feeling completely gouged for the price. I charged what I paid for it. I got a good deal on my new one, and felt I wanted to help out a fellow letterpress person starting out. It was a nice transaction. I know it went to a good home. It was sad to see it go since I really learned to print on it. But at the same time, it is nice to have the elbow room for my new bigger press. I have a large spot on my work table to spread out when I print. It will be nice to finish up my plate and send it out. I have been working on some new designs for the past few weeks. It is hard to find the solid time to complete them. Hopefully in the next few days I will have them ready to send off for plates.

It Feels Like Spring! (West Coast)

Well the kids are back in school today. We surprised them with a trip to Hawaii to visit their cousins over spring break. It was very fun to unexpectedly pick them up from school with the car loaded, they were totally confused. Ethan asked if we were going to the beach—I think he thought for a picnic lunch. I told him yes, but laughed. We drove off to the airport. It was great.



Now I am back, somewhat rested, and excited to print again. I have been busy with graphic design projects over the past month. So even though I have been printing on my new press, I haven't posted in quite a while. Here is a peak at a card I designed last year, but was never able to get a nice print out of on the Kelsey. The C & P knocks it out with ease. It is so nice to have all power of the new press, with so much less work. My Kelsey didn't have the muscle to give me a deep impression, and even a clean print on something this large. The daisy prints nice and clear on my new press. The impression is really nice too!

Happy Easter! (Midwest)

Here's hoping that everyone is enjoying a happy and relaxing Holiday with family and friends.